Sunday, September 23, 2007

Better than Pirate's Booty

This Gypsy opened on November 16,1989 and ran for 486 performances at the St. James Theatre first and then the Marquis. Tyne Daly won her Tony award for Mama Rose.

Woman of the Year opened on March 29, 1981 and ran for 770 performances at the Palace Theatre. Lauren Bacall won her second Tony for this role.

Patti LuPone performed this Matters of the Heart concert on Sunday and Monday nights from October 15, 2000 to December 17, 2000 at the Vivien Beaumont. Contact was running concurrently in that theatre.

Sondheim Putting It Together was a review in March 1993 starring Julie Andrews, Stephen Collins, Christopher Durang, Michael Rupert and Rachel York.

Sondheim's Saturday Night is a rarely produced musical. This cast included a couple of recogniable names: Natascia A. Diaz and Andrea Burns.

This Sweeney Todd was affectionaly (or not) known as Teeney Todd, as it was a miniscule production compared to the original. This first revival of the Sondheim masterpiece only lasted for 188 performances at the Circle in the Square Theatre.

This revival of Into the Woods opened at the Broadhurst on April 30, 2002 and ran for 279 performances. It won the 2002 Tony for best revival. I'm embarrased to admit that I didn't see it.

I picked up this Playbill magazine article about Frank Langella for Sally. I expect it will make her happy.

This is from Opening Night of Pacific Overtures from January 11, 1976. I saw the beautiful revival in 2005 at Studio 54.

Passion opened on May 9, 1994 and ran for 280 performances at the Plymouth (nka Schoenfeld). It won the 1994 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical for James Lapine, Best Original Score for Stephen Sondheim and Best Actress in a Musical for Donna Murphy.

Rupert Holmes' The Mystery of Edwin Drood starred Betty Buckley, Cleo Lane, George Rose, Patti Cohenour and Howard McGillin. Donna Murphy and Judy Kuhn were in the cast as well. It opened on December 2, 1985 at the Imperial and ran for 608 performances.

This revival of Follies was another revival flop for Sondheim. It opened on March 8, 2001 and only ran for 117 performances.

The Goodbye Girl was a flop. Opening on February 13, 1993, it ran for only 188 performances. Bernadette left Into the Woods to star in this with Martin Short. There were nominations all around but with lyrics like, "Paula, on my knees, you're so much talla", it just didn't have what it takes. Still, it ran long enough to have two very different cover disigns.

This original production of 42nd Street ran for 3,486 performances! It opened at the Winter Garden on August 25, 1980 (8/25/1980 - 3/29/1981), moved to the Majestic in 1981 (3/30/1981 - 4/5/1987) and finally was home at the St. James (4/7/1987 - 1/8/1989). Jerry Orbach and Tammy Grimes opened this production. Director/choreographer Gower Champion passed away on opening night, August 25, 1980. He posthumously awarded the Tony for Best Choreography, while the show won Best Musical.

This revival of Annie Get Your Gun, starring Bernadette Peters, ran from March 4, 1999 to September 1, 2001, for a total of 1,045 performances. Bernadette won the 1999 Tony for Best Actress in a Musical and the show won the Best Revival of a Musical. When Sondheim asked her how she could play that character for almost two years, she replied, "Well, she is a woman." I caught this one on video at the New York Library of Performing Arts. Bernadette was darling at Annie Oakley.

This Roundabout Production of Company opened on October 5, 1995 and only ran for 60 performances. It had a hell of a cast - Danny Burstein, Kate Burton, Diana Canova, Veanne Cox, Charlotte d’Amboise, Jonathan Dokuchitz, Boyd Gaines, John Hillner, Jane Krakowski, LaChanze, Timonty Landfield, Debra Monk, Patricia Ben Peterson and Robert Westenberg. I asked Debra Monk (Joanne) what instrument she would have played had she been in the recent revival and she responded, "I play the drums!"

Deathtrap ran for 1,793 performances! It opened at the Music Box on February 26, 1978. It moved to the Biltmore in 1982. Marian Seldes was in it the entire run. It won the 1978 for Best Play.